Game machine

ABSTRACT

A game executer is operable to sequentially execute a plurality of racing games in which a plurality of racing members compete to each other. An instruction receiver is adapted to receive, from a player, a first instruction for causing a personal racing member prepared by the player to participate at least one of the racing games as one of the racing members, while being associated with a player identifier identifying the player. A processor is operable to increase a winning probability for the racing games of the personal racing member when it is executed, as one of the racing games, a first racing game in which the personal racing member satisfying a prescribed requirement participates. A prohibiter is operable to prohibit the personal racing member having participated the first racing game from participating the racing games executed subsequently to the first racing game.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a game machine for executing a racinggame where a plurality of racing objects race with one another.

BACKGROUND ART

As this type of game machine, for example, a horseracing game machinefor executing a horserace (racing game) where a plurality of racehorsecharacters (race objects) race one another is well known (for exampledisclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-95870A).

In the horseracing game machine disclosed in this publication, aracehorse character (specific racing object) related to a horse owned bya player can run in the horserace. With a racehorse character related toa horse owned by a player, which satisfies a condition (prescribedcondition) that the horse won at least three times in GI races preparedin the racing game machine or the number of acquired medals (acquiredtotal prizes) exceeds 2000, when the player performs a retirementoperation (prescribed condition), the racehorse character can retirefrom a race. When a retirement processing is performed, the racehorsecharacter related to the horse owned by the player is prohibited fromparticipating in subsequent horse races although it is not described indetail in the publication, Accordingly, when the retirement processingfor the racehorse character related to the horse own by the player isperformed, the player cannot enter the racehorse character to ahorserace.

Similar to the horseracing game machine described in the publication, ina horseracing game machine for prohibiting a racehorse character relatedto an owned horse from participating in a race after the racehorsecharacter retires from a race, when a retirement operation is performed,a race in which the racehorse character participates immediately beforethe retirement becomes a last race (retirement race) of the racehorsecharacter. With respect to the retirement race, the player tends to wishthe racehorse character to win. If the player's wish is reflected to theresult of the retirement race, a game enjoyableness becomes higher.

However, in the conventional horseracing game machine, odds that theracehorse character wins are not subjected to a special processing evenin the retirement race of the racehorse character related to the horseowned by the player. That is, odds that the racehorse character wins arenot changed although the race is the retirement race of the racehorsecharacter. Accordingly, in the conventional horseracing game machine,the player's wish is not reflected to the result of the retirement raceand thus there is a problem that the game enjoyableness is low.

Conventionally, there is also a horseracing game machine for executing aretirement race of a racehorse character related to an owned horse aftera retirement operation of the racehorse character is performed. However,even in this horseracing game machine, odds that the racehorse characterwins are not subjected to a special processing although the race is theretirement race. Accordingly, even in this horseracing game machine, theabove problem occurs.

In addition to the horseracing game machine, even in a game machinewhich repetitively executes a racing game where a plurality of racingobjects race with one another, allows a specific racing object toparticipate in a plurality of racing games, and prohibits a specificracing object satisfying a prescribed condition from participating in aracing game after a racing game in which the specific racing objectparticipates, the same problems may occur.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a game machinecapable of reflecting a player's wish that a specific racing objectrelated to the player wins its last racing game to the result of thelast racing game.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the invention, thereis provided a game machine, comprising:

a game executer, operable to sequentially execute a plurality of racinggames in which a plurality of racing members compete to each other;

an instruction receiver, adapted to receive, from a player, a firstinstruction for causing a personal racing member prepared by the playerto participate at least one of the racing games as one of the racingmembers, while being associated with a player identifier identifying theplayer;

a processor, operable to increase a winning probability for the racinggames of the personal racing member when it is executed, as one of theracing games, a first racing game in which the personal racing membersatisfying a prescribed requirement participates; and

a prohibiter, operable to prohibit the personal racing member havingparticipated the first racing game from participating the racing gamesexecuted subsequently to the first racing game.

With this configuration, when a private racing object of any playerparticipates in a racing game (first racing game) which satisfies aprescribed conditions, the private racing object is prohibited fromparticipating in a subsequent racing game (second racing game). In thepresent game machine, a processing of increasing a probability that theprivate racing object wins is performed with respect to the first racinggame which becomes a last racing game of the private racing object. Thatis, in the last racing game, the probability that the private racingobject of the player increases compared with a case where the racinggame is normal racing game (the racing game is not the last racinggame). Accordingly, in the last racing game in which the private racingobject related to the player can participate, the player' wish forwinning of the private racing object can be reflected to the result ofthe last racing game.

The racing game may further comprise a rank determinant, operable toperform random number selection to determine a rank of each of theracing members in each of the racing games. In this case, each of theracing member is associated with winning probability data indicative ofthe winning probability for the racing games thereof. The rankdeterminant is operable to perform the random number selection withreference to the winning probability data. The processor is operable tomodify the winning probability data so as to increase the winningprobability when the personal racing member satisfies the prescribedrequirement.

The racing game relates to a sporting event in which a plurality ofracing object play a match such that one competing object wins, such asbaseball, soccer or fighting sport and a race for a betting aboutexpectation of the order of arrival such as a horserace a bicycle raceor a motorboat race. The racing game performed by the present gamemachine relates to the latter race and the rank of the race ispreviously determined by a lottery by the rank determinant and the raceis executed such the determined rank is accomplished. According to thepresent game machine, probability that the private racing object wins inthe last race in which the private racing object can participate, withrespect to such a race.

The game machine may further comprise a storage, operable to storeperformance information indicative of a racing performance of thepersonal racing member while associating the performance informationwith the player identifier. In this case, the game executer is operableto execute the racing games with reference to the performanceinformation. The processor is operable to modify the performance data soas to enhance the racing performance when the personal racing membersatisfies the prescribed requirement.

With this configuration, in the last racing game of the private racingobject of any player, the capability information of the private racingobject temporarily increases such that a probability that the privateracing object wins increases. Accordingly, in the last racing game, aprobability that the private racing object of the player wins increases,compared with a case where the racing game is the normal racing game.

The instruction receive may be adapted receive, from the player, asecond instruction for updating the performance information.

The change of the capability information corresponds to an operation forallowing the player to virtually train the private racing object, Theplayer particularly wants the private racing object trained by theplayer to win in the last racing game in which the private racing objectcan participate. According to the present game machine, it is possibleto increase a probability that the private racing object wins the lastracing game in which the player wants the private racing object to win.

The game machine may further comprise a storage, operable to storehistory information indicative of at least one past racing result of thepersonal racing member while associating the history information withthe player identifier. The prescribed requirement includes a requirementthat the history information indicates a prescribed racing result.

With this configuration, it is determined whether a probability that theprivate racing object wins in the last racing game increases or not,according to the win-loss result of the racing game in which the privateracing object participated in the past. Accordingly, it is possible toobtain an advantage that the probability that only a private racingobject restricted by the win-loss result of the past racing game wins inthe last racing game increases and to increase a game enjoyableness.

The prescribed requirement may include a requirement that theinstruction receiver receives a prescribed instruction from the player.

With this configuration, it is possible to determine whether a racinggame in which the private racing game of the player participates is alast racing game, according to the desire of the player.

According to the invention, there is also provided a program productcomprising a program which causes a computer to execute operationscomprising:

executing a plurality of racing games in which a plurality of racingmembers compete to each other, sequentially;

receiving, from a player, a first instruction for causing a personalracing member to participate at least one of the racing games as one ofthe racing members, while being associated with a player identifieridentifying the player;

increasing a winning probability for the racing games of the personalracing member temporarily, when it is executed, as one of the racinggames, a first racing game in which the personal racing membersatisfying a prescribed requirement participates; and

prohibiting the personal racing member having participated the firstracing game from participating the racing games executed subsequently tothe first racing game.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an arcade gamemachine according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the arcade game machine.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a maincontrol section of the arcade game machine.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a stationcontrol section of the arcade game machine.

FIG. 5A is a table showing a data structure of player data.

FIG. 5B is a table showing a data structure of data recorded in amagnetic card supplied to a player.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a training screen displayed on a display ofthe arcade game machine when a training processing is executed.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

There will be described below a commercial game machine (hereinafter,referred to as an “arcade game machine”) according to one embodiment ofthe invention for executing a horserace (competition race) where aplurality of racehorse characters (racing objects) race with oneanother.

As shown in FIG. 2, the arcade game machine 1 includes a field 2provided in a central portion and a plurality of stations 10 which areprovided so as to surround the field 2. In the field 2, a racecourse 4including a gate 3 is provided and a plurality of miniature horses runin the racecourse 4 to execute a horserace. A plurality of speakers 5for outputting play-by-play commentary or cheers of the race areprovided in the vicinity of the field 2. A display 6 for displaying agame name and an illumination device 7 for illuminating the field 2 areprovided above the field 2. The display 6 and the illumination device 7are supported by a support pillar 8.

The station 10 includes a display 11 for displaying a game screenaccording to the progress of a game and a touch panel 12 which overlapswith a surface of the display 11. When a player touches a prescribedposition of the game screen displayed on the display 11 according to aninstruction of the game screen, the position is detected by the touchpanel 12 and the manipulation contents of the player are recognized bythe arcade game machine 1. In addition, the station 10 includes a tokeninlet 13 for allowing the player to input a token, which is a gamevalue, a token outlet 14 for supplying the token to the player, and amagnetic card slot 15 for inserting a magnetic card.

In the arcade game machine 1, the player may participate in a game as aracehorse owner. More specifically, the player may select a favoriteracehorse character among a plurality of racehorse characters and pay aprescribed number of tokens to acquire the racehorse character. The nameof the acquired racehorse character may be prepared by combination of aname selected from names, which are previously recorded in a main bodyof the arcade game machine, and a player name Input by the player (forexample, the name of the player). The player may train the horsecharacter so as to improve the capability of the acquired racehorsecharacter. The trained racehorse character may run in a desired race. Inthe arcade game machine 1, since the continuity of the game is ensuredwhen the player participates in the game as a racehorse owner, theplayer may resume the game on a separate date by using the magnetic carddistributed to the player.

As shown in FIG. 3, a main control section 100 provided in the field 2includes a main controller 101, a field controller 102 for controllingthe running of miniature horses in the field 2, an illuminationcontroller 103 for controlling the illumination device 7, an audiocontroller 104 for controlling sound such as the actual condition soundor shout output from the speakers 5, an SRAM 105 and a flash memory 106for recording of a variety of data of each player, and a ROM 107 forstoring a variety of databases and a program necessary for a game. Themain controller 101 is connected to the field controller 102, theillumination controller 103, the audio controller 104, the SRAM 105, theflash memory 106 and the ROM 107. The ROM 107 stores the databaseincluding data about plural types of horse names, which are previouslyprepared and selected by a player who plays as a racehorse owner, sounddate, a variety of data about horses, and a race schedule.

As shown in FIG. 4, a station control section 200 provided in eachstation 10 includes a station controller 201, a token manager 202 formanaging the supply of the token, a RAM 203 for temporarily recording avariety of data of the player, a magnetic information reader 204 forreading magnetic information of the magnetic card inserted into themagnetic card slot 15, and a magnetic information writer 205 for writinga variety of information such as an ID code on the magnetic card. Thestation controller 201 is connected to the token manager 202, the RAM203, the magnetic information reader 204, and the magnetic informationwriter 2056 The station controller 201 is also connected to the display11 and the touch panel 12 shown in FIG. 2, a not-shown token inputsensor for detecting a token input via the token inlet 13, a not-shownmagnetic card driver for driving the magnetic card inserted into themagnetic card slot 15, all of which are mounted in the station 10.

The station controller 201 of each station 20 is connected to the maincontroller 101 of the field 2 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 to effectnecessary communication therebetween.

An example of a data structure of player data which is recorded andmanaged with respect to every player is shown in FIG. 5A. The playerdata includes an ID code allocated to the player, personal informationof the player, information about a horse owned by the player, final playdate information for specifying a date when the player plays a gamefinally, rewriting information for recording the update of data, and acheck code for preventing the magnetic card from be tampered. The playerdata also includes game history information of the player andinformation unrelated to the progress of the game, such as a screenlayout. The ID code is a single numeral allocated to a single player andis set not to be duplicative with the ID of other player data, Thepersonal information, the owned horse information, and the final playdate information are used as the game history information for ensuringthe continuity of the stopped game. The player data is stored in theSRAM 106 or the flash memory 106 shown in FIG. 3.

The personal Information includes information about the player, such asthe name of the player or the total number of times of play. Thepersonal information is used as data applied to the game contents orcustomer management data such that the player name is used as the nameof the owned horse.

The information about the owned horse includes a horse name code forspecifying the name of the owned horse, horse type information forspecifying a growth curve indicating the feature of a growth method,sex, age, the number of times of run, a speed, stamina, a condition, theaccumulation amount of acquired prizes, and past race records (forexample, a first rank, a second rank, a third rank, or a lower rank).The horse name code is associated with horse name data in the databaseof horse name data stored in the ROM 107, and the horse name data isread on the basis of the horse name code to be used in a games.

An example of a data structure of written data written on the magneticcard when a player stops play is shown in FIG. 5B. In the written data,a portion of the player date is recorded. More specifically, informationincluding the ID code, the check code, and the screen layout unrelatedto the progress of the game is recorded.

The player who plays as a horse owner inserts the magnetic card into anystation 10 when resuming a game, Then, the check code recorded on themagnetic card is read, it is determined whether the information writtenthereon is normal, and the ID code recorded on the magnetic card isread. Then, the player data corresponding to the ID code is read fromthe SRAM 105 15 or the flash memory 106 shown in FIG. 3. The player datais read by the RAM 203, which is included in the station 10 and shown inFIG. 4, and is subjected to a prescribed processing. Accordingly, theplayer may always resume the game using the magnetic card andcontinuously enjoy the game using the racehorse character trained byhimself/herself.

In the arcade game machine 1, races (hereinafter, referred to as a“normal race”) having the same titles as actual central horse races aresequentially held according to a prescribed cycle. About 60 races areprepared as races which will be executed within a year. For each race, atime for betting a token, that is, a time for purchasing a voting ticket(betting ticket) of the game, a time for executing the normal race usingminiature horses, and a time for displaying a race result are ensured.The player may expect a winner in each race and freely purchase abetting ticket, The purchase of the betting ticket is performed bybetting the token. If the purchased betting ticket is equal to theresult of the race, a prescribed number of tokens according to odds andthe number of betted tokens are supplied as a dividend. In the arcadegame machine 1, as the type of a voting method, there are four methodssuch as Win, Quinella, Exacta, and Quinella Place. The player expects aracehorse character which will become a winner and makes a bet on theracehorse character using any one of the voting methods.

Hereinafter, a retirement processing of a racehorse character related toa horse owned by a player will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, thearcade game machine 1 includes a manipulation receiver, a game executer,a capability information storage, a determinant, a temporary processor,and a participation prohibiter. The arcade game machine 1 has a rankdeterminant a capability information updater, a race records storage, abetting determinant, a game value receiver, and a game value supplier.

The manipulation receiver receives a betting manipulation, aparticipating manipulation (participation instruction manipulation), aretirement instruction manipulation (specific manipulation), a traininginstruction manipulation (capability information update instructionmanipulation) of a player. The manipulation receiver is mainlyconfigured by the touch panel 12, the station controller 201 and themain controller 101. When the player makes a bet, an odds table or amanipulation button image for allowing the player to select tworacehorse characters for a bet and inputting the number of betted tokensis displayed on the display 11 of the station 10. The player manipulatesthe touch panel 12 according to the display contents of the display 11and performs the betting manipulation.

When the player performs the participating manipulation, a participationscreen is displayed on the display 11 of the station 10 and the playermanipulates a participation button on the participation screen such thatthe racehorse character related to the horse owned by the playerparticipate in his/her desired race.

When the player performs the retirement instruction manipulation, aretirement screen is displayed on the display 11 of the station 10 andthe player manipulates a retirement button on the retirement screen suchthat the racehorse character related to the horse owned by the playerretires from the race. The retirement processing will be describedlater.

When the player performs the training instruction manipulation, atraining screen is displayed on the display 11 of the station 10 and theplayer manipulates various training instruction buttons on the trainingscreen such that the racehorse character related to the horse owned bythe player is trained, The training processing will be also describedlater.

The game executer executes a horserace where eight racehorse charactersrace with one another and a prediction game for allowing players toexpect a racehorse character which will win in a race. The game executeris mainly configured by the main control section.

The rank determinant is mainly configured by the main control section.The rank determinant determines a racehorse character, which is placedfirst in a race executed by the game executer, by a lottery on the basisof data about winning percentages of eight racehorse characters whichrun in a race, and sequentially determines the remainder of theracehorse characters up to a lowest-rank racehorse character usingcorrected winning percentage data X′ of the remainder of the racehorsecharacters obtained by the following Equation 1.

X′=X/(1−Y)

where, X denotes winning percentage data of the racehorse characters tobe calculated and Y denotes the total sum of the winning percentage dataof the racehorse characters of which ranks are previously determined.

The detailed operation of the rank determinant Will now be described.First, a lottery table including the winning percentage data of theracehorse characters as lottery odds data of the racehorse characters isgenerated. The lottery table is obtained by proportionally allottingrandom numbers, which can be generated by the main controller 101,according to a ratio of the winning percentage data of the racehorsecharacters and associating the random numbers with the racehorsecharacters. The main controller 101 generates one random number,compares the generated random number with the lottery table, andspecifies a racehorse character corresponding to the random number, inorder to determine a racehorse character which is placed first.Accordingly, the game executer executes the race such that the racehorsecharacter is placed first.

Next, the main controller 101 substitutes the winning percentage data ofthe racehorse character, which is determined to be first, and thewinning percentage data of the remainder of the racehorse characters toEquation (1), and calculates corrected winning percentage data X₁′ toX₇′ of the remainder of the racehorse characters. A new lottery tableincluding calculated corrected winning percentage data X₁′ to X₇′ aslottery odds data of the racehorse characters is generated. Thereafter,the main controller 101 generates one random number, compares thegenerated random number with the new lottery table, and specifies aracehorse character corresponding to the random number, in order todetermine a racehorse character which is placed second. Accordingly, thegame executer executes the race such that the racehorse character isplaced second. Similarly, the ranks of the racehorse characters aredetermined up to a lowest rank racehorse character.

The capability information storage stores capability information relatedto results of the horserace for ea& racehorse character in a state thatthe capability information related to the horse (specific racing object)owned by the player is associated with the ID code (player specificinformation) of the player. The capability information storage isconfigured by the SRAM 105 or the flash memory 106 of the main controlsection. In the present embodiment, basic information (medal valueinformation), condition information, jockey information and ageinformation are used as the capability information. The medal valueinformation is numerical data indicating the total capability of theracehorse character and corresponds to the number of medals consumed byperforming the below-described training processing with respect to theracehorse character. The condition information, the jockey informationand the age information are information for determining how much themedal value information decreases when winning percentage data asdescribed below. The information used as the capability information isnot limited to the above-described information and is properly selected.

Here, the winning percentage data used by the rank determinant iscalculated using the capability information stared In the capabilityinformation storage. Specifically, when eight racehorse characters whichwill run in the race are determined before the game executer starts theprediction race, the main controller 101 calculates the winningpercentage data of the racehorse characters using the capabilityinformation of the racehorse characters. Specifically, first, a numeralvalue related to the medal value information of the racehorse charactersor a numeral value obtained by multiplying the above-described numeralvalue by a common coefficient of the racehorse characters is set to amaximum value of the parameter value of the racehorse character, asubtraction value determined by a prescribed equation from the conditioninformation, the jockey information and the age information at the timeof the race is subtracted from the numeral value, the value obtained bythe subtraction is set to the parameter value of the racehorse characterat the time of the race. Ratios of the parameter values of the racehorsecharacters to the sum of the parameter values of all the racehorsecharacters which will run in the race are calculated and the calculatedvalues are set to the winning percentage data of the racehorsecharacters. The winning percentage data indicates odds that theracehorse character wins in a race, for each racehorse character whichruns in the race. The winning percentage data of the racehorsecharacters varies depending on the numerical value of the capability ofthe capability of the other racehorse characters which run in the raceand the winning percentage data of the racehorse character variesaccording to races.

In the present embodiment, the numerical value obtained by multiplyingthe numerical value related to the medal value information of theracehorse characters by the coefficient is subtracted from the medalvalue information of the racehorse characters by participation in therace. Specifically, for example, if a racehorse character having medalvalue information of, for example, 100 runs in a race and a coefficientwhich is set for each race or a coefficient which is constantly setregardless of the race is, for example, 10%, the medal value informationof the racehorse character becomes 100−(100×10%)=90. The medal valueInformation reduced after the race may increase by paying a medal by thebelow-described training processing. By reducing the medal valueinformation of the racehorse character by the participation in the race,expectations of the medal acquirement ratios of all the racehorsecharacters related to the horses owned by all the players can becomeequal. The term “medal acquirement ratio” described herein is a ratio ofthe number of medals consumed by the training processing of theracehorse character to the number of medals acquired when the racehorsecharacter runs in a race.

This point will be described in detail. Since a probability that aracehorse character having high medal value information wins in the raceas described above is high, a probability that the racehorse characterwins in the race to acquire a prescribed number of medals (prizes) ishigh. However, since a percentage of reducing the medal valueinformation by allowing the racehorse character to run in the raw islarge, the number of medals consumed for recovering the medal valueinformation by the reduction using the training processing increases. Incontrast, since a probability that a racehorse character having lowmedal value information wins in the race as described above is low, aprobability that the racehorse character wins in the race to acquire aprescribed number of medals (prizes) is low. However, since a percentageof reducing the medal value information by allowing the racehorsecharacter to run in the race is small, the number of medals consumed forrecovering the medal value information by the reduction using thetraining processing decreases. As a result, the number of medals relatedto the acquirement and consumption is large with respect to theracehorse character having the high medal value information and thenumber of medals related to the acquirement and consumption is smallwith respect to the racehorse character having the low medal valueinformation. However, when the coefficient, the prize, the number ofmedals used for the training processing are properly set theexpectations of the medal acquirement ratios of both the racehorsecharacters substantially become equal.

Since the expectations of the medal acquirement ratios of all theracehorse characters related to the horses owned by all the playerssubstantially become equal, it is possible to maintain a payout ratio ofthe arcade game machine at a desired value.

The capability information updater updates the capability informationstored in the capability information storage associated with the ID codeof the player when the manipulation receiver receives the traininginstruction manipulation. The capability information updater is mainlyconfigured by the station controller 201 and the main controller 101.Specifically, the manipulation data indicating the contents of thetraining instruction manipulation performed by the player is sent fromthe touch panel 12 of the station 10 to the main controller 101 via thestation controller 201.

The detailed contents of the processing (training process) of thecapability information updater is as follows.

When the player performs the training manipulation using the touch panel12, the station 10 effects a training mode and the training screen shownin FIG. 6 is displayed on the display 11 such that the player canperform a variety of training instruction manipulations. As shown inFIG. 6, the image of the horse owned by the player is displayed on thetraining screen. On the lower side of the training screen, buttons forselecting one from five training methods including “lawn”, “wood chips”,“dirt” and “slope road” and “sand play” are displayed. The player maytouch the button of any training method to perform the trainingprocessing according to the training method with respect to theracehorse character related to the horse owned by the player.Specifically, in the training processing of the “lawn”, “wood chips”,and “dirt”, for example, two medals may be consumed to vary thenumerical value of the medal value information of the racehorsecharacter related to the horse owned by the player. These trainingprocessings respectively have different variations of the medal valueinformation. The numerical value of the medal value information variesby any numerical value of 0 to 4 in the training processing of “lawn”,the numerical value of the medal value information necessarily varies by2 in the training processing of “wood chip”, and the numerical value ofthe medal value information varies by any numerical value of −1 to 5 inthe training processing of “dirt”. The variation in numerical value ofthe medal value information in the training processing of “lawn” and“dirt” is determined by a random number selection. In the trainingprocessing of “slope” and “sand play”, two medals may be consumed tovary the numerical value of the medal value information of the racehorsecharacter related to the horse owned by the player. The conditioninformation is a value of 0 to 100%. If this value is 100%, the valuereduction of the medal value information due to the conditioninformation when calculating the parameter value at the time of a racebecomes zero and, if this value is 0%, the value reduction of the medalvalue information due to the condition Information when calculating theparameter value at the time of a race becomes a prescribed maximum valuefor reducing the value of the medal value information by the conditioninformation.

The value (age) of the age information of the capability informationcannot be changed by the training processing and increases one by onewhenever a race cycle of a year is finished. If the numerical number orthe age information exceeds a prescribed numerical value (for example,three years old, the reduction of the numerical value of the medal valueinformation gradually increases.

The race records storage stores the past race records, which is win-lossresult information indicating win-loss results of the races in which theracehorse character (specific racing object) related to the horse ownedby the player participates, in association with the ID code of theplayer. The race records storage is mainly configured by the SRAM 105 orthe flash memory 106. A GI race where the racehorse character wins canbe specified from the past race records.

The determinant determines whether the racehorse character (specificracing object) related to the horse owned by the player satisfies aprescribed retirement condition (prescribed condition). The determinantis mainly configured by the main controller 101. The retirementcondition of the present embodiment includes a condition that theracehorse character wins in prescribed races of 60 races executed in thearcade game machine 1 to accomplish any one of male-horse triple crown,mare-horse triple crown, Emperor's Cup champion, grand-prix champion,old-horse (four-years-old racehorse) five race champions, sprintchampion, and mile champion (first condition) and a condition that theretirement instruction manipulation of the player is performed (secondcondition). Specifically, when the player a performs the retirementinstruction manipulation using the touch panel 12, first the secondcondition is satisfied. Then, the determinant reads the past racerecords related to the racehorse character of the player data associatedwith the ID of the player from the race records storage, specifies theGI race where the racehorse character wins, and determines the firstcondition that any one of male-horse triple crown, mare-horse triplecrown, Emperor's Cup champion, grand-prix champion, old-horse(four-years-old racehorse) five race champions, sprint champion, andmile champion is accomplished.

If the first condition is satisfied, the determinant determines that allthe retirement conditions are satisfied and sends the determined resultto the game executer. The game executer which receives the resultperforms the retirement processing for outputting play-by-playcommentary sound such as “ARIMA commemoration, this is a retirement raceof XXX” or “What game XXX shows finally!” in a next race where theracehorse character runs.

The determinant which determines that all the retirement conditions arenot satisfied sends the determined result to the below-describedtemporary processor and the participation prohibiter.

The temporary processor temporarily changes the capability informationof the racehorse character used when the game executer executes a lastrace only in the last race so as to increase a probability that theracehorse character wins in the last race in which the racehorsecharacter is determined to satisfy all the retirement conditions. Thetemporary processor is mainly configured by the main controller 101.

In particular, for example, the rank determinant changes the ageinformation for determining the parameter value used when calculatingthe winning percentage data of the racehorse characters in the last raceto three years old. Specifically, since the age information of theretiring racehorse character has a large numerical value and thus thereduction increases, the winning percentage data tends to decrease dueto a small parameter value upon the retirement race. Accordingly,conventionally, the racehorse character related to the horse owned bythe player hardly wins. Thus, in the present embodiment, the numericalvalue of the age information is changed to three years old so as toobtain a smallest reduction. Accordingly, the parameter value of theracehorse character becomes close to the numerical value (maximum valueof the parameter value) related to the medal value information of theracehorse character and thus the winning percentage data increases.

Alternatively, for example, there is a method of adding a prescribedvalue to the parameter value of the calculated racehorse character ormultiplying the parameter value of the calculated racehorse character bya prescribed coefficient larger than 1 to increase the parameter valueand increasing the winning percentage data of the racehorse character.In this case, the parameter value becomes the capability information ofthe racehorse character. Accordingly, the parameter value of theracehorse character may become at least a numerical value of thenumerical value (maximum value of the parameter value) related to themetal value information of the racehorse character.

Alternatively, similar to a general race, the winning percentage data ofthe racehorse characters may be obtained and changed such that thewinning percentage data of a racehorse character which is determined tosatisfy all the retirement conditions increases. This method canincrease a probability that the racehorse character wins in theretirement race even when the winning percentage data is calculatedaccording to a method different from the method of calculating thewinning percentage data on the basis of the capability informationsimilar to the present embodiment, that is, the method of calculatingthe winning percentage data without using the capability information.

The participation prohibiter prohibits the racehorse character relatedto the horse owned by the player from participating in a race after theretirement race. The participation prohibiter is mainly configured bythe main control section. Specifically, the reception of themanipulation data related to the participating manipulation of theretiring racehorse character is rejected with respect to the race afterthe retirement race. Alternatively, the manipulation receiver may notreceive the participating manipulation by disabling the race button onthe race instruction screen displayed on the display of the station 10.Alternatively, owned horse information of the retiring racehorsecharacter may be eliminated.

The betting determinant selects a prescribed number of racehorsecharacters according to the voting method on the basis of a playermanipulation (betting manipulation) received by the manipulationreceiver, and determines the number of tokens (game value) betted on theselected racehorse character More specifically, a bet is made in theunit of one racehorse character in Win and is made in the unit of tworacehorse characters in Quinella, Exacta, and Quinella Place. Thebetting determinant is mainly configured by the station controller 201and the main controller 101 More specifically, manipulation dataindicating the contents of the bet manipulation performed by the playeris sent from the touch panel 12 of the station 10 to the main controller101 via the station controller 201. The main controller 10 selects aracehorse character on the basis of the manipulation data and determinesthe number of tokens betted on the selected racehorse character. The betcontents of the player is stored the SRAM 105 and the flash memory 106for each player.

The game value receiver receives the tokens by the number of tokensdetermined by the betting determinant from the player who performs thebet manipulation. More specifically, the tokens input to the token inlet13 of the station 10 by the player is counted and is managed by thetoken manager 202 as token data. The token manager 202 manages thetokens which are exchanged between the player and the arcade gamemachine 1. When the tokens are received from the player, the tokenmanager 202 performs processing of reducing the count value of the tokendata of the player by the number of received tokens. Accordingly, in thepresent embodiment, the game value receiver is mainly configured by thestation controller 201 and the token manager 202.

The game value supplier determines a winner in voting methods on thebasis of the ranks of the racehorse characters determined by the rankdeterminant, and supplies the player with the tokens by the numberobtained by multiplying the number of tokens betted on the racecharacter related to the winner by corresponding odds. Morespecifically, the token manager 202 performs processing of increasingthe count value of the token data of the player by the number ofsupplied tokens. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the game valuesupplier is mainly configured by the station controller 201 and thetoken manager 202.

In the arcade game machine 1 having the above-described configuration,when the player trains the racehorse character related to the horseowned by the player, enables the racehorse character to repetitivelyparticipate in a race to accomplish, for example, Emperor's Cupchampion, and manipulates the retirement button of the retirementinstruction screen displayed on the display 11 of the station, thedeterminant determines that the retirement condition is satisfied. Then,the player selects a last race (retirement race) and performs raceregistration. Since three years old which is best age is used as thenumerical value of the age information of the racehorse character whenthe winning percentage data of the retirement race is calculated, theparameter value of the racehorse character increases compared with thegeneral race and thus the winning percentage data increases. As aresult, in the lottery for order of arrival of the retirement race, aselected probability of the racehorse character increases and thus aprobability that the racehorse character wins in the retirement raceincreases. When the retirement race is finished, the race registrationof the racehorse character is prohibited in the subsequent race althoughthe player performs the race operation. Accordingly, the racehorsecharacter which runs in the retirement race cannot run in the subsequentrace.

The owned horse information of the racehorse character which runs in theretirement race may be deleted as described, or be uploaded to a rankingpage opened through a Web server on the Internet so as to be used whenranking registration is performed. A combination processing function forgenerating a now race horse using the owned horse information of maleand mare racehorse characters may be added to the arcade game machine 1such that the owned horse information of the racehorse character whichruns In the retirement race can be used In the combination process.

Although the race horse game machine is, for example, described in thepresent embodiment, the present invention is applicable to another gamemachine for repetitively executing a racing game where a plurality ofracing objects race with one another, allowing a specific racing objectto participate in a racing game in plural, and prohibiting the specificracing object from participating in a racing game after a racing game inwhich the specific racing object satisfying a prescribed conditionparticipates. Accordingly, the type of the racing game may includeanother race for a betting about expectation of the order of arrivalsuch as a bicycle race or a motorboat race, and a sporting event inwhich a plurality of competing objects play a match such that one ofthem wins, such as baseball, soccer or fighting sport, in addition tothe horseracing game.

Although the present invention applies to the arcade game machine 1 inthe present embodiment, the present invention is applicable to anothergame machine such as a home game machine. For example, when the presentinvention applies to the home game machine, a computer of the home gamemachine can be provided to a player by delivering a program which servesas the game executer, the determinant, the temporary processor, and theparticipation prohibiter or a program which is obtained by adding thefunctions of the rank determinant, the capability information updater,the race records storage, the betting determinant the game valuereceiver, the game value supplier to the above-described program isdelivered or recorded on a recoding medium to be distributed via acommunication network. In this case, the game value becomes electronicdata related to virtual currency used for a bet in the game.

1. A game machine, comprising: a game executer, operable to sequentiallyexecute a plurality of racing games in which a plurality of racingmembers compete to each other; an instruction receiver, adapted toreceive, from a player, a first instruction for causing a personalracing member prepared by the player to participate at least one of theracing games as one of the racing members, while being associated with aplayer identifier identifying the player; a processor, operable toincrease a winning probability for the racing games of the personalracing member when it is executed, as one of the racing games, a firstracing game in which the personal racing member satisfying a prescribedrequirement participates; and a prohibiter, operable to prohibit thepersonal racing member having participated the first racing game fromparticipating the racing games executed subsequently to the first racinggame.
 2. The racing game as set forth in claim 1, further comprising arank determinant, operable to perform random number selection todetermine a rank of each of the racing members in each of the racinggames, wherein: each of the racing member is associated with winningprobability data indicative of the winning probability for the racinggames thereof; the rank determinant is operable to perform the randomnumber selection with reference to the winning probability data; and theprocessor is operable to modify the winning probability data so as toincrease the winning probability when the personal racing membersatisfies the prescribed requirement
 3. The game machine as set forth inclaim 1, further comprising a storage, operable to store performanceinformation indicative of a racing performance of the personal racingmember while associating the performance information with the playeridentifier, wherein: the game executer is operable to execute the racinggames with reference to the performance information; and the processoris operable to modify the performance data so as to enhance the racingperformance when the personal racing member satisfies the prescribedrequirement.
 4. The game machine as set forth in claim 3, wherein theinstruction receive is adapted receive, from the player, a secondinstruction for updating the performance information.
 5. The gamemachine as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a storage, operableto store history information indicative of at least one past racingresult of the personal racing member while associating the historyinformation with the player identifier, wherein the prescribedrequirement includes a requirement that the history informationindicates a prescribed racing result.
 6. The game machine as set forthin claim 1 wherein the prescribed requirement includes a requirementthat the instruction receiver receives a prescribed instruction from theplayer.
 7. A program product comprising a program which causes acomputer to execute operations comprising: executing a plurality ofracing games in which a plurality of racing members compete to eachother, sequentially; receiving, from a player, a first instruction forcausing a personal racing member to participate at least one of theracing games as one of the racing members, while being associated with aplayer identifier identifying the player; increasing a winningprobability for the racing games of the personal racing membertemporarily, when it is executed, as one of the racing games, a firstracing game in which the personal racing member satisfying a prescribedrequirement participates; and prohibiting the personal racing memberhaving participated the first racing game from participating the racinggames executed subsequently to the first racing game.